Prospect Talent Score

Probability of Success

History

2010-11:Anthony Mantha made his QMJHL debut, appearing in two games with Val-d’or, spending most of the season with the College Charles-Lemoy Riverains in Quebec’s midget AAA league. Selected by the Foreurs in the fifth round (76th overall) of the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft, he played in two December games for Val-d’or, with no points and a minus-two plus/minus. He was the third-leading scorer for the Riverains, scoring 20 goals with 24 assists in 37 games, and had 42 penalty minutes. In five playoff games he scored 2 goals with 3 assists and had 2 penalty minutes.

2011-12: Mantha played in 63 games for Val-d’or in his first full year in the QMJHL and represented Canada in the 2012 U18 World Junior Championship. He scored 22 goals with 29 assists and was minus-11 with 39 penalty minutes. The Foreurs were second in the West Division. Mantha scored 2 goals with 2 assists and was minus-nine with 6 penalty minutes in the wild four game playoff series with Rimouski. He joined Canada after the Val-d’or was eliminated and in seven games at the U18 WJC he scored 1 goal and was minus-two.

2012-13: Mantha was Val-d’or’s second leading scorer behind Penguins prospect Anton Zlobin in his second season. He led the QMJHL with 50 goals and had 39 assists in 67 games and was plus-21 with 71 penalty minutes. The Foreurs reached the second round in the playoffs after finishing fourth in the West Division. Mantha scored 5 goals with 7 assists and was plus-1 with 13 penalty minutes in nine playoff games. He was ranked 10th amongst North American skaters in Central Scouting’s mid-season rankings and remained in that position in the CSS final rankings. He was selected by Detroit in the first round (20th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft.

2013-14: Mantha led the QMJHL in scoring in his third season with Val’d’Or and played for Canada in the 2014 World Juniors. He scored a league-leading 57 goals with 63 assists and was +34 with 75 penalty minutes in 57 regular season games. The Foreurs reached the Memorial Cup after winning the league championship. Mantha scored 24 goals with 14 assists and was +17 with 52 penalty minutes in 24 QMJHL playoff games. Val d’Or won two of its first three games, including an overtime win over eventual champion Edmonton, before losing to the Oil Kings, 4-3, in triple overtime in the Memorial Cup semifinal game. Mantha scored 1 goal with 3 assists and was -2 with 4 penalty minutes in four Memorial Cup games. He scored 5 goals with 6 assists and was +6 in seven games for Canada, which finished fourth after falling 2-1 to Russia in the bronze medal game. Mantha signed a three-year entry-level contract with Detroit in October 2013.

2014-15: Mantha did not make his pro hockey debut with Detroit AHL affiliate Grand Rapids until November after suffering a broken tibia in a rookie tournament game in September. Steadily adapting to pro hockey from the junior game, he had the ups and downs not uncommon for a 20-year-old in his first AHL season. He provided secondary scoring and some physical play in his first season with the Griffins. In 62 regular season games he scored 15 goals with 18 assists and was +5 with 64 penalty minutes. The Griffins finished first in the Midwest Division and reached the Western Conference Finals against Utica. Mantha scored 2 goals with 2 assists and had an even plus/minus with 16 penalty minutes in 16 playoff games.

2015-16: Mantha made his NHL debut with Detroit in a March 15th game against Philadelphia, joining the Red Wings after spending most of his second pro season with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins. He scored 2 goals with 1 assist and was -6 with 2 penalty minutes, averaging 11:42 minutes of ice time in 10 games before being returned to the Griffins. Mantha scored 21 goals with 24 assists and was +13 with 32 penalty minutes in 60 games for Grand Rapids. The Griffins finished fourth in the Central Division, reaching the AHL playoffs for the fourth straight season.

Talent Analysis

Mantha is purely and simply a goal scorer. He has a great frame that he uses to fight through traffic, solid puck awareness and offensive positioning, all topped with a heavy wrister that he can fire quickly and smoothly. For a player of his size, he skates very well but he needs to keep his feet moving and work hard on both sides of the puck. Mantha is does not mind physical play and will willingly engage in battles, but can sometimes be goaded into undisciplined penalties.

Future

Mantha made his long-awaited NHL debut with Detroit late in 2015-16, appearing in 10 games with the Red Wings before being returned to the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins. Like other skilled young scorers, the 21-year-old continues to evolve in the other areas of his game and as he becomes more consistent he should see a larger role with the Red Wings.

Photo: Lake Erie Monsters defenseman and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Zach Werenski has been impressive in AHL action since turning pro at the end of the 2015-16 NCAA season (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

Lake Erie Monsters coach Jared Bednar understands the challenge in front of his team as it prepares for the Calder Cup Western Conference Finals against the Ontario Reign.

The Reign are the defending champions, having won the title last season as the Manchester Monarchs, and return 15 players with championship rings. In addition, Ontario is big, physical and plays “Los Angeles Kings-style hockey” that wins in the playoffs. Read more»

Photo: Lake Erie Monsters goaltender and Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Joonas Korpisalo was a top performer for the Monsters in their opening round sweep of the Rockford IceHogs in the 2016 AHL playoffs (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

Four teams remain in the AHL Western Conference playoff race that kicks off Thursday in California and in Cleveland.

The two matchups feature teams that met several times in the 2015-16 season, so both series could potentially go the full seven games. Read more»

Photo: The Detroit Red Wings could have used some vintage Todd Bertuzzi in the playoffs this season but the hope is that his nephew, Tyler Bertuzzi, can bring some of that famous energy, skill and will to the team in the near future (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

The 2015-16 season marked the beginning of a time of transition for the Detroit Red Wings. It saw the graduation of a handful of key prospects, by far the most impactful being teenager Dylan Larkin. Larkin was outstanding as a rookie this season and will be a key building block for the Red Wings as they re-tool for the future.

Photo: Although set to graduate from prospect status in short order, Dylan Larkin’s recent struggles show that there is a long road to NHL stardom even for a prodigy (courtesy of Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Despite being in the playoffs for seemingly an eternity (not really, just closing in on three decades), the Detroit Red Wings have managed to find their fair share of high-end prospects in the middle to late parts of the first round and beyond.

Photo: After an outstanding rookie season in Grand Rapids, Czech pro Tomas Nosek has slipped down the depth chart for the Griffins (courtesy of Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)

The long-discussed rebuild in Detroit has yet to come and the Red Wings scouting staff is doing their best to make sure that no such rebuild has to take place.

With recent graduations to the NHL like Teemu Pulkkinen and Dylan Larkin – the latter of whom leads all NHL rookies in goals with 11 – there are still several prospects plying their trade at the AHL level looking to be the next call-up to help keep the Red Wings going.